Ellen lining up for finish line

155 miles to go and Ellen MacArthur looks set to cross the finish line of the Route du Rhum in first place. But the posisbility of beaten Michel Desjoyeaux on elasped time is looking less likely.
Geant is currently 406.8 miles astern and although Desjoyeaux has slowed up in the last few hours, his 24 hour average is still 422 miles. So at present he is less than a day behind
Kingfisher.

From on board Kingfisher Ellen reported:

"Right now we are in our final stretch to the island and we are hoping that we will see Guadeloupe some time tomorrow.

"It’s a little bit stressful at the moment. We are sailing in a straight line direct to the island so technically there is very little we can do except sail the boat but, at the same time, we know once we get there things are going to be very very difficult.

"We have a very interesting route we have to sail once we get there. We have to sail right round to the western side and then back round underneath the southern side to the finish.

"From the time we actually get to the island it’s a further 50 to 60 miles so a massive day tomorrow. Trying to get sleep and prepare yourself for that is going to be quite a tough one. I know that the finish is going to be really hard so lets just hope we can keep the breeze until we cross the line...."

Ellen's win is already starting a media frenzy in France with a) a woman winning the Route du Rhum (it would be the second time this has happened - Florence Arthaud won in 1990), b) potentially she might be the fastest elasped time boat in the race - the first time this has EVER happened c) second singlehanded transatlantic race Ellen has won (her first was the 2000 Europe 1 New Man STAR d) there will be comparisons with the Vendee Globe where Michel Desjoyeaux finished narrowly ahead of her.